ORIGIN - ooh, shiny! [Hatching]

- AVIATRIX -

Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, scratch. Tap, tap, tap.

The muted sound of claws on gemstone echoes through the tunnel, as steady as raindrops. It's a quiet, subtle sound; something one would only hear if they were attentive, or simply had sharp hearing.

It pauses, briefly. There is silence.

And, then, it starts up again—louder, this time, more insistent.

Its source? A black jade chrysalis, tucked between the spot where the floor and the wall join. It's hard to tell, in the shade which it's placed, but if one came closer, they would see... movement. A bushy tail, pressed insistently against the inside of the stone, two back paws, kicking and pushing, and that sound.

Tap, tap, scratch. Tap, tap, tap.

Tiny cracks begin to crawl across the outside of the stone; leaking clear amniotic fluid from within, pressure pushing to be released.

It's been a cycle and a little more since this gemstone was infused with errant magic and begun to grow, and, now, the creature inside wants so very badly to be released.

Tap, scratch, crack.

The top section of the chrysalis crumbles away. Fluid floods out of the gemstone shell and spatters onto the floor, the sounds of its dripping far louder and more distinct than the quiet scratching and tapping of before.

Not even a moment passes before a muzzle pokes through this new hole, nose sniffing wildly.

The hatchling's first sound is a loud, searching—"Mew?"

@Effluvium

! ! NASTY ! !

Effluvium held particular dislike for Tunnel J. It was the tunnel it'd been murderated in. It was the tunnel it'd been poisoned in. And now, it was the tunnel it heard a tap in. Effluvium had been passing through. On its way to eat or stalk god knows what. Its head shot up. Eyes blinking in random order. Tap! It heard it again. Effluvium raked its brain for what made that noise, and if it were food. Nothing came to mind.

Curious, and a bit hungry, the creature followed the noise to its source. A black crystal, tucked against the wall. Effluvium lowered its head to the ground, sniffing at it. Something hit the wall of the chrysalis. Effluvium made a startled gurgle, stepping back. Clear fluid leaked from the chrysalis. Mildly confused, mildly hungry, and all nasty, Effluvium stuck out a tongue to lick at it. It wasn't unlikable, but it wasn't meat. Which is all that mattered to Effluvium.

A crack echoed from the chrysalis. And then, the top fell in. A small, fuzzy nose poked out. Making strange noises at it. Effluvium wouldnt be the best thing for a newborn to sniff. But it sure was a scent. The beast itself was having trouble processing how the tiny creature was in the hard rock. Did all rocks have things inside? Was the rock the child? And the muzzle was covered in the same strange fluid. Effluvium licked it, curious if the child tasted the same. It didn't get much information out of that. So, Effluvium would go physical for information.

Effluvium lifted off its front two limbs, aiming to smash down on the chrysalis with its body weight. To see the strange, fluffy thing inside. Either the crystal was too hard, or Effluvium was too weak. For it landed on the chrysalis, nary a crack formed from its efforts. It huffed. Then, it spoke.

"Food?" It said. It wanted to know if it could eat the thing within the rock. And it didn't want to eat a sick tasting not-food again.

"When I speak."

When I think.

@Aviatrix

- AVIATRIX -

The world outside smells… meaty. Fleshy—weird. It sounds drippy.

It looks... like a strange pile of limbs and arms and other things that they have no name for, and the newborn squints and blinks at it, wiggling and pushing at the little hole in the gemstone as they try to slip free. Another curious squeak falls from their muzzle as they push, push—trying to get free of their shell, if only to see what the strange creature is outside their gemstone.

Their efforts are interrupted, however, by the sight of a twisting tongue emerging from an amalgamate of maws.

Lick.

They still. Blink—once, twice.

They sneeze, shaking free some of the saliva that now coats their muzzle in place of amniotic fluid; the sound echoes down the tunnel, tiny and kittenish.

The little gembound's first coherent thought is, ew.

And then the chrysalis shakes, rattles and echoes as the big creature comes down on it with all its strength, and the viverrid cries out, wiggling and twisting as their priorities change from "get out" to "get back in!"

Unfortunately, they can't seem to turn around in their chrysalis. Furthermore: they seem to be stuck, muzzle caught firmly in the little hole in which they were peering through just moments before.

"No!" they yell. "Not food!"

They are definitely not food, and not something to be eaten, and not something to be crushed! They're too small for this!

@Effluvium

"Not...food." It repeated. Then grumbled, annoyed. Effluvium had such a rough life. So many edible things said they were not food. But Effluvium wouldn't eat this one. It snuffled at the chrysalis, then scraped it with a hand. The experience with the poisonous, tiny creature was fresh in its mind. It briefly looked at the creature. Then noticed it was wriggling within. Was it stuck? Effluvium considered leaving the hatching creature. It turned, and took a few steps away. It was small, and also not food. Not worth the effort. Not when Effluvium could find more edible, less talking food somewhere else.

It stopped. If it was a poisonous not-food, like the other small one, then it could tell Effluvium what foods were good and what foods weren't. The faster Effluvium got it out, the faster Effluvium would know what was good and bad to eat. Effluvium hoped the smaller creature wouldn't poison it.

Effluvium turned back. Bracing its' body, Effluvium charged at the black chrysalis. There was nothing, then a dull crack. Then the patter of chrysalis shards hitting the ground. Effluvium shook, satisfied with itself. Then looked at the creature. Smaller than it'd thought. "You..." It began. It struggled to find the words it wanted. Its' limited vocabulary a hindrance, for once. "You tell Effluvium bad food."

"When I speak."

When I think.

@Aviatrix

- AVIATRIX -

The great, big flesh-monster turns, grumbling all the while, and the hatchling breathes a sigh of relief. They're still—they're still stuck, that's a bad thing and also a little scary because what if they don't get out?!, but at least the creature that said they were food is leaving.

Until it doesn't. Until it turns, and with surprising speed for something its size, (it's so big, much, much bigger than little them) charges towards their chrysalis.

There is one thing that encapsulates a sight like that; seeing an aberration many times their size charging at their hatchsite with all the force of a stampede, very, very clearly not intending to stop. The hatchling squeezes their eyes shut and thinks:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—

—a?

Impact jostles their body, but the expected pain doesn't come. With trepidation, they open one eye, just in time to watch the chrysalis shatter and black shards come tumbling to the ground.

Uh.

Huh.

The great beast speaks, and the hatchling looks up at it—eyes wide not with fear, but with confusion, and even a little curiosity. It helped... does that mean that it doesn't want to hurt them?

Yeah, it only wants to hurt food, right? At its words, the hatchling continues to stare, the gears of their brain working behind their wide black eyes.

...well, once they get past the whole thing of BIG MEATY MONSTER, it... doesn't seem that bad. It seems kinda cool, honestly, being so much bigger than them.

They like this idea. It sounds fun. "...s-sure! Yeah! I'll help!"

With a wag of their tail and a few awkward bounds, still getting used to a new body, the gembound leaps over what remains of their chrysalis and skids to a stop in front of the meat monster. "Are you—are you gonna hunt now?" they ask, excited.

@Effluvium